The Homunculus and the Alchemists
by Kikuhana-Kudasaki
Summary: Main characters are OC's, however alot of the characters from the anime are involved. Here is a story that my sister Hatone and our friend Ajorki have been working on! We hope you enjoy it!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Kikuhana and Hatone were waiting outside Central. It was a nice cool day, barely a cloud in the sky. Kiku wasn't exactly sure if the Elirc brothers would be here but she had a feeling. Hatone looked at her sister and then up at the sky.  
"Tell me again, why are we waiting for them?" Hatone asked.  
"Because we used to travel together," Kiku informed her sister. "I want to see how they're doing now. We haven't seen them in four years." Kiku added.  
There was a sudden explosion down the road in Central City in a trading shop. Central City civilians were running out of the shop, frightened and yelling for help. Hatone and Kiku jumped to their feet, very alarmed and looking around.

"We better go check that out!" Hatone said aloud before taking Kiku by the wrist and running to the explosion. Kiku ran with Hatone to the explosion, not knowing what to expect...she guessed it might be Homunculi. Shortly after the first explosion, there was another explosion in the flower shop right next to it and following it where other series of explosions, each occurring like a domino effect. The Central City military vehicles arrived blocking off the people who were running towards the dangerous scene, that including Kiku and Hatone who were running towards it. A man hopped off from one of the vehicles who wore a blue uniform with blonde, spiky hair, landing in front of the two girls.  
"Whoa, whoa, hold it right there you two, this is closed off now, it's getting to dangerous down here," he shouted over the loud explosions that were occurring.

Kikuhana paused at seeing him. _Jean Havoc _She thought to herself. "Please you have to let us through" Kiku said, her voice barley caring over the explosions. "We are alchemists remember... You could need our help" Kiku's hand went around her necklace, covering the stone. Hatone, who normally kept quite in these situations, allowed her sister to do the talking while she looked at the officer with pleading eyes.  
As Havoc listened to the older sister, he smoked on his cigarette with tiresome eyes and sighed, throwing the cigarette on the floor, his foot stepping over it to stop the smoke. "Well, if you say so, but I'm going to have to clear this with the leader of the military," he responded, scratching his head.  
Kiku bit her lip, time was being wasted. _He doesn't remember us._

"I'm sorry about this" She apologized while looking at the ground. Kikuhana clapped her hands together and ice went around her right hand. She then hit the officer on the head, knocking him out. "Hatone lets go."

Havoc's jaw opened in shock when she performed alchemy before his eyes without a transmutation circle and blacked out when he was hit in the head, falling on the ground, asleep. He was wrong to have underestimated two girls. And for that matter, he was always never good with women and never understood them. This was one of those cases. Most of the military men and women were trying to stop the fire that lit up from the explosions. Hatone stood there, fiddling nervously with her hands. She wondered just how well her Earth Alchemy would work for a fire. Kiku started running with Hatone by her side until she saw Roy Mustang and wanted to avoid catching his attention.

"Let's go from the roof top, that way we can get an aerial view of the whole situation."

"Right," Hatone nodded and proceeded to follow Kiku. Once they were at the top Hatone fixed her worried eyes on her sister. "How are we going to do this?" She asked.  
"We will figure something out...hopefully" Kiku responded not sounding so sure.  
"You're the ice alchemist! You figure something out!" Hatone shouted as she waved her arms around. Just then a man appeared through the smoke from the rooftop. He wore a military uniform. His white hair stood out aganst his attire and he wore a pocket watch around his neck that had the symbol of many elements.  
_Who is this guy? _Kiku thought as she stopped in her tracks. Kiku didn't remember seeing this guy at all when she was here before in Central, maybe he was new.  
Hatone squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at the figure. "Who is he...?" She asked herself as the figure became clearer.

The man stood still on top the roof, scanning the girls with his cryptic red eyes that were slightly hidden by his white hair.

"What are you two doing up here?" He asked in a serious tone.  
Another explosion made the building shake.

"Can we deal with introductions later?" Kiku said regaining her footing on the tile. "I think we need to get this under control."  
Hatone couldn't find the right words. Too much was going on. "Um…Just help us, please- if you wouldn't mind." She said without making eye-contact. The mysterious man walked over to them and stopped about five feet away from them. The fire that was rising on the next building was getting worse. He sighed in a low tone and raised his arm to the left as ice came out of the palm of his hand, it swiftly calmed down the fire.  
Kiku's eyes winded. This man was in ice alchemist, and he could perform alchemy without a transmutation circle. She wondered if maybe he had a transmutation circle on is gloves, like the way Roy was able to use alchemy without a circle. But she wasn't sure. Hatone stared at this man in awe as he put out the fire with such ease. He turned his head to face them and politely smiled.

"My name is Stephen. I'm a state Elemental Alchemist," he said to the two women as he snapped his fingers, such as Roy would, to perform fire from the tip of his hands, "I'm a rather versatile alchemist. Who are you two? If I may now ask."

Hatone's cheeks turned a little pink. He was very mysterious, and she always became nervous when meeting new people. She waited for Kiku to speak.  
"My name is Kikuhana" she said after a long pause. "My sister and I are both Alchemists but we are not apart of the military." she was a little afraid but didn't want to show it. Hatone waited until she gained a few breaths to speak.

"Hatone, my name is Hatone." She told Stephan in a shy voice, while keeping her gaze to the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Stephen blinked when the two mentioned they were alchemists as well. He took more notice of the girl who had slightly strawberry orange hair. _She is a shy one to not be making eye-contact with a military member. Should I be suspicious? Perhaps I should not overreact._ Stephen took a step forward. "Alchemists who are not in the military. I see," he commented, "You don't happen to be... homunculi, right?" Stephen suspected.

Hatone's eyes widened a bit at the word. "N-no! Not at all-sir." She stammered. "We're just traveling alchemists." She added in a calm tone.

Kiku looked at the man and a small smile appeared across her face. "And trust me...if we were Homunculi we wouldn't be having this conversation right now." She added to her sister's response.

Stephen smirked under the long locks of his white hair. "I suppose you're right, please, follow me," Stephen said as he disappeared in a flash, heading into the next building where it was suspected to be some clues in there.

Kiku went with the man knowing Hatone would follow one way or another-her sister did not like being alone. Hatone hesitated a bit. She didn't normally trust strangers right off the bat. However, she wouldn't go anywhere without her sister. Hatone placed a hand on her stomach, trying to push back the sick feeling and followed them.

Stephen crashed through the fragile, charred roof of the building and saw Roy going through some papers. "Sir," Stephen said as he stiffened and saluted him. "Oh, Stephen, it's you. It seems that the person who caused these explosions were looking for something important in this particular trading shop."

Stephen walked by his side to look at the papers that Roy was going over. "I see, some sort of alchemy rituals?" Stephen asked as he scanned the images of malevolent-looking transmutation circles. Roy nodded and glimpsed at the two females who were standing there. "Hm?"

Stephen noticed that Roy had seen them and cleared his throat. "Oh, lieutenant, this is Hatone and Kikuhana. They are both state alchemists. Nomadic alchemists apparently. They are not part of the military." Roy smirked and shook their hands. "Pleasure to meet you two, I hope you can help us look for clues on this scene. We are in desperate need of expert alchemists with this case."

Kiku released his hand, a bit uneasy, and look a breath before speaking. . "Of course, Colonel." She smiled a little. "What ever you need us to do, please let us know." Kiku added and then saw what Stephen was looking at. "So… are these human transmutation circles?" She wasn't sure but they did look familiar. Kiku's gaze met back with Roy's.

"Oh, um…hello Colonel." Hatone smiled shyly and was a bit confused as she shook his hand. She dropped her gaze when she pulled her hand back. Hatone stood behind Kiku as she normally did. _I really hope I don't come off as suspicious…_ Hatone thought to herself as she nervously scratched the back of her head. We knew Roy, it was this Stephen person was causing Hatone to act the way she was.

Roy stood by Stephen, Kikuhana, and Hatone who were looking through the papers. "It seems that they are transmutation circles but if you look at the design, they look like they are for chimeras and homunculi. In other words, they are taboo. This sort of alchemy is not allowed in most parts of the country. I wonder if this trading shop has anything to do with this. Stephen?" said Roy as he stood by the charred exit door of the building where two soldiers were guarding the door from outside, "You make sure you help these ladies out with our case. We need some extra alchemists and you know that." Stephen nodded at Roy's comment and waved at him as he left. "Kikuhana, Hatone, you don't mind if we go together back the military base right?"

Kiku watched Roy leave with curious eyes. Kiku then faced Stephen as she pulled a lock of her dark brown hair over her ear. "Yes that would be fine," her voice was calm. She then glanced at her sister, then the floor and back at Stephen. "Thank you."

A sudden wave of anxiety pulsed through Hatone. She kept her hands close to her chest and her side bangs fell in front of her face. The man, Stephan, seemed kind enough. However, this was a world where everyone had to be on their guard, especially if you were an alchemist. "No, we wouldn't mind." Hatone said with a small but nervous smile.

"Very well then," responded Stephen with relief. "Since today is going to be a busy day for the headquarters, do take a break for today and I'll meet you tomorrow in the morning 8:00 AM sharp at the HQ. I will be heading home now to investigate there. Will you excuse me?" Stephen said as he headed for the door.

Kiku had this feeling of safety with Stephen. At the same time there was a knot in her stomach that couldn't be ignored. This confused Kiku because she would usually trust someone or keep a distance.  
She felt that she needed to say something to the man as he left, however she couldn't find the words. So she just nodded.

Before Stephen stepped out of the door's charred threshold, he stopped in his tracks. "I almost forgot, since Roy has your records at headquarters, I will be contacting you for the meeting on the case. Be careful now," he added as he left, leaving the door open for the two women to leave. As Stephen left the building, a black, military limousine pulled up on the plaza and he got in. "Nice to see you again, Stephen," said a familiar voice, "I'm sorry it took me so long to arrive, I had a few... regenerating problems," the driver said.

"I'm glad to see you too... Envy."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kiku looked at her sister. "Funny don't you think? You would have thought that Roy would have remembered us. I mean it was only four years ago. " She shook her head and started walking towards the exit. "But then again, I'm sure he has had a lot more important things to deal with then to remember two alchemists from the past." Kiku then stopped walking. Hatone agreed with her about Roy. "He's probably seen a lot of people in the past four years; I can understand why he wouldn't remember us." Hatone responded. Hatone looked up at the ceiling with her hands behind her back.

Kiku and Hatone went into a cafe and got something to eat. By the time they got home the sun started to fall. They both went to bed earlier then normal that night, for they were planning on meeting Stephen in the morning.

* * *

As the moon rose in the sky, Envy and Stephen watched it as if they were waiting for something or someone. "Are you sure this merchant will be coming anytime soon?" Stephen asked as he leaned against the wall of the trading shop building. They had drove to the military headquarters to pick up the papers that was found in the explosion. The papers that had forbidden transmutation circles and now they wait outside of the trading shop, with unconscious guards on the ground, waiting patiently for the merchant who brought those papers. "I'm sure," Envy responded as he shape shifted into one of the guards, "I hope Lust makes it soon. We won't be able to convince this merchant by telling us the details of these papers. She needs to convince him to. I wonder why she's so late..." Stephen looked down to the ground to kick one of the rocks and grinned, "She's probably with Havoc." Envy laughed.

Some time passed and there was a light sound of footsteps coming from the distance. Lust stood by a wall while she folded her arms and looked at Stephen from the shadows; her face was lit by the moonlight. "Is everything in play?" She asked with amusement in her tone. Her lavender eyes then focused on the guard which was Envy.

Both Envy and Stephen straightened up and sighed in relief when Lust arrived. "Yes, everything is set. Oh, I think that's him in the distance over there," Envy said as he pointed in the alley way of Central City's downtown plaza. Envy stood by Lust, playing the part as Lust's bodyguard, "You know what to do, Lust," he said in a low voice.

Lust tilted her head slightly when the merchant came closer; her hair fell over her right eye, her stance stood the same and her eyes locked on the man. The man had a bag with him; she guessed that the papers they needed where in there. The merchant looked down at the bag before looking back up at Lust and Envy; they could tell he was on his guard. At that moment Lust's eyes flicked to the black figure in the corner, who was Stephen, and then back at the merchant.

The merchant lowered his brown coat's hood and struggled to hold the cluttered papers in his arms. Envy caught them before they fell on the ground. "I hope you didn't drop some on the way," Envy said frustratingly. "I-I'm sorry. I had to come walking because the military is holding up a lot of cars and checking the traffic too." Stephen took some of the papers Envy was skimming through. The merchant watched the two go over the papers and swallowed a gulp as he wanted to tell them to be careful with such precious papers. He looked over at Lust who stood tall and determined about something. From nervousness, he bowed his head to her and gulped.

Once the man finished bowing, the woman with long black hair spoke. "I imagine that you were smart enough to make sure you covered any tracks that might have led the military to this area." Lust said fluently. The merchant seemed startled by her voice; until now Envy was the one who had done most of the talking. She then smiled. "On the other hand you did get us what we asked for,"

The old, gray-haired merchant gulped once more at her comment. He couldn't seem to stop doing that but how wouldn't he when he was trading illegally with homunculi. "Lust's right, you've got everything here, ol' man," Envy said as he finished skimming some of the papers. Stephen nodded in agreement and handed back Envy the papers he was viewing. "Stephen," Envy said, "Will you do the honors?" Stephen's hand twitched at the request of murdering the man. The merchant gasped and stumbled a few steps back, "N-No, please, I promise, I didn't leave anything behind! I did what I asked! Please... I have two young children at home and they're sick, I need this money!" Envy generated back into himself instead of being a guard as a way of intimidation. Stephen placed his hand on Envy's shoulder who was ready to knock the merchant unconscious. "Envy," Stephen assured, "He is telling the truth." Envy gripped his fist in denial and sighed. "Fine," he responded as he signaled the man that he could leave.

Lust fixed her eyes on Stephen. "Don't tell me you're turning soft on us," She then took a quick look at Envy before closing her eyes. "You were the one always who waited for this part," In the shadows two eyes glowed and a voice spoke. "But Lust...I wanted to eat him…"

Stephen ignored Lust's taunting comment and removed his hand from Envy's shoulder. The two turned around when they saw Gluttony's shadow in the alley that was behind them as he munched away on a dog. Stephen looked down to the ground in disgust and suddenly remembered of his meeting plan with the two female alchemists. With that, he promptly looked at his jacket's pocket watch: 11:47 P.M. He had to be at the headquarters by 6:00 A.M. "Gluttony, you're late but then again, when aren't you," complained Envy who stood behind Lust with his arms crossed.

Lust sighed before she started to walk down the partly lighted street, Envy following behind. She stopped and turned her head to Stephen. "Stephen, try not to cause such a fuss around town. Everyone is talking about the military's Elemental Alchemist." She added. Gluttony had finished devouring the dog and followed Lust and Envy as they disappeared into the darkness.

Stephen gripped his hand in silent anger and nodded his head at Lust's comment. "I'll try to keep my successful reputation to a minimum then," he responded tauntingly as each homunculus departed in different paths, leaving the scene.

Stephen hopped onto his white-colored motorcycle that was parked just out of the alley where they met. Without a helmet, he hopped onto the vehicle and revved the engine with the handles after he turned it on. He fled the place, heading to his apartment complex which was in front the military headquarters. A secret as to why he is never late to any of the military meetings and speeches. As he parked his motorcycle at the back of the complex, he entered the backdoor and exhaustively walked the high steps of the apartment; he lived at the very top on floor fifty-one. Arriving at his doorstep which on the door it read "Room 433", he saw that his door was already half-way open.

When Stephen entered the apartment he saw that everything was still the way it had been when he left it. Nothing was gone or out of place, but there was something small, black and fuzzy lying on the floor by the couch and it barked when it saw him. The figure was Black Hayate. The little dog had left the military headquarters without Riza, or anyone else, knowing and somehow made his way into Stephen's apartment.

When Stephen saw what had entered, he let out a deep, relieving sigh. Why would he be visited by the homunculi again if he did what he was asked? As he walked into the threshold of his apartment door and took off his military coat with his right hand, his left hand closing the door behind him. "Come here, Hayate," he whistled as he knelt down on the wooden floor, clapping has hands on his lap.

The dog sprung to his feet and scampered over to the man. Hayate placed his front paws on Stephens's knee and wagged his tail, which showed he was happy to see and familiar face. Hayate then licked and nuzzled Stephens's right hand, which rested over one leg.

Stephen pushed back his long white hair as he looked down at his lap to pet Hayate's belly. "Hm, I wonder how you got out. Riza's probably worried about you, lil' fella." Before he stood up, he made sure to pick up the dog to place him on the resting chair beside his bed. "That ought to feel better." Stephen plopped himself on his bed, laying back as he stretched, blankly looking at the ceiling with restlessness. I wonder how long I'll keep this up with the homunculi... working for them and all. Then again, I am one of them too. I should be more worried about my identity being uncovered at the military. Suddenly, the image of one of the girls he met earlier during the explosion popped into his mind. He hurriedly sat up from the bed as if an electrical current ran through him when he least expected it. It had been Hatone that he thought about. But why? The other girl seemed to speak more than her. Was this a subconscious warning? He tried to push the idea aside and lied back down on the bed, stretching. "Well, she is in a way... cute." He said to himself and closed his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The alarm clock that sat beside Stephen's bed rest awoke him from a good dream. He had dreamt of becoming the future of Central City... but of course, that would never happen considering Stephen was only a middle-rank soldier compared to the top dogs. He sat up and pulled he sleeve to check the time from his wrist watch. "Hm, 5:31 AM, not bad, not bad," he said to himself as he threw the comforter off of him.

Hayate was sitting by the kitchen, waging his tail waiting to perform his tricks so he could eat. He barked a bit when Stephen waked past him. Stephen was a bit in hurry to arrive at HQ for the little meeting with the two young women. "Sorry Hayate, I'm a bit in a hurry, I'll get your food, don't worry, don't worry," he assured the dog as Stephen paced back and forth trying to put on his coat, gloves, and other necessities. He finally grabbed a plastic bowl from the kitchen and poured what seemed to be kitty food, "Sorry Hayate, all I've got is cat food. Hope you're okay with that."

Hayate smelled the food and then looked up at him a bit confused why he didn't make him sit, shake and lay down like Riza did before he ate. The dog then started gobbling down the food happily.

Stephen looked down at the dog with pity and promised himself he would take Hayate with him to the store down the street to get him some real dog food; he had been a good dog during the night and he deserved it. "All righty, Hayate, I'm going to have to shorten up your lil' breakfast so we could leave." He picked up the dog, who was still munching a bit of the food and headed out the door with him, holding Hayate inside of coat so he wouldn't freeze to death outdoors where it was snowy, windy, and cloudy. He rushed to the nearby market and quickly paid the cashier for the can of dog food and called for a cab, ordering him to take him to the military headquarters of Central City.

* * *

Kiku franticly tried to clip her necklace on her neck as she barked at her sister. "Hatone!" She shivered as they ran to Central. "I t-told you to set that alarm..." The two sisters had over slept and grabbed whatever they could, running as fast as they could, and hoped they made it there in time. Hatone apologize as she tried to keep her pace with her sister.

* * *

The taxi cab dropped off Stephen at the gate entrance of the building. "Thank you, driver, here you go," he thanked, handing him a few Central City coins as he exited the cab. He leaned against the wall of the entrance as we patiently waited for two women whilst warming Hayate from underneath his coat in his arms. Kiku and Hatone made it to Central and they were slowing down to catch their breath. Kiku saw Stephen. "Hatone," She elbowed her sister and gestured to the man. "Go..." was all she said as she walked.

Hatone saw the white-haired man leaning against the building, waiting. She blushed a little as she dug her heels into the floor. "You first," Hatone whispered to her sister.

Kiku sighed "your kidding" Kikuhana ran her hands in her hair once, trying to fix the mess, and in a matter of seconds was in front of Stephen. Kikuhana froze not sure what to do or say, but she kept eye contact with the man. Stephen stood upright, unexpected to find the two of them in at the blink of an eye. "I suppose this is too public for us to speak about the... you-know-what." He headed over to the corner coffee store that was down the street where he knew the girls, Hayate, and he would be warm and comfortable. "I'm sorry to have kept you guys out there in the cold. Not a very bright idea," he apologized.

Hatone took a few breaths, trying to keep her nervous self calm. "No it's fine," she smiled a bit shyly at him. Hatone started petting her hair once again to keep herself calm.

He nodded his head at Hatone who seemed to be a bit nervous and warmly smile at her. He was glad that he was able to see her again after that incident he had the other night in his home before he slept when he thought about her. He shook his head at the thought and took out Hayate from underneath his coat to place him on his lap. "Whoops, seems like I didn't mention about the dog." Hatone's cheeks glowed a bright pinked. She couldn't help but notice he had a nice smile, and the he had smiled directly at her. She dropped her gaze to the floor, twisting a lock of hair around her finger like an orange ribbon.

Kiku gasp a little, she couldn't help but adore dogs. "Aw, he's so…," she smiled not finishing her sentences. Stephen tried to look away from the girl but couldn't help it. In his mind, he thought she was very attractive and still wondered why he had thought about her. He cleared his throat and looked back at Kikuhana who sat on the other side of the table. "Thank you, his name is Hayate. Unfortunately he's not mine, he's actually one of my comrade's pet so he kind of got lost, I suppose. Go on, Hayate, go on," he said to him as he handed him to Kikuhana who he felt she desperately wanted to pet him. "You've gotten big haven't you." Hayate barked at the girl and waged his tail. Stephen glanced at Kiku because of her comment. He guessed they were familiar with a few of the military members in the past, not just knowing who they were but at a somewhat personal level. Afterwards, he set the pile of top secret papers onto the table pushing it to the two women. "There you have it, the papers from the explosion." Kiku smiled has she pampered the dog in her lap, the dog she once knew long before. She then looked up at Stephen and the papers. She picked one up and started looking at it. "But...what does it all really mean?"

"Word in the military is that these papers are a sign that the homunculi are planning some sort of war against the military to take control of Central City." He explained as he rested his arms on the table. "We need your help to help us spy and look for their 'hideout', if you follow what I mean."

A pulse of anxiety spiked in Hatone's veins when he mentioned 'homunculus' and 'war' in the same sentence

"I know it sounds completely absurd but so far we have a lead and we're thinking Havoc knows a few things on the matter. Don't tell him but we're kind of suspicious of his new girlfriend. It's not everyday a beauty like her ends up with him. How disrespectful of me but I'm getting suspicious here."

He pulled back from the table and sat up right when Havoc came into the coffee shop to order a cup of coffee. "Speak of the devil," Stephen said in a low voice. He looked down to his lap, putting his hands into his jacket's pockets. He heard Havoc's footsteps getting closer and when he looked up, Havoc was standing next to the table where the three sat with a large smile on his face holding his cup of coffee. "Do you guys have room for one more person?" he asked looking at three with content.

Hatone glanced up at the blond man. _Hey… that's the guy that tried to stop us from going to the explosions. I wonder if he recognizes us._ Hatone wondered to herself. She sat up a bit and glanced at the empty chair beside Stephen before fixing her gaze on Kikuhana.

_I hope we won't get in any trouble for assaulting an officer if he does_. Hatone added to her thoughts with a slight sigh.

Hayate barked at Havoc as the dog still sat in Kikuhana's lap. Kiku placed her hand over the top part of the dog's snout, telling him to stop. "Oh, um…I guess so," Kiku answered without thinking. Her fast and easy response to Havoc was because she felt guilty about her actions the other day. Kiku then winced at her words, not knowing if Stephen would be mad or if he would have cared. She then glanced at Stephen and then looked down at the dog in her lap, and waited.

Havoc didn't seem to sense the tense environment at the table. Probably because he didn't know that they were talking about him behind his back for good reasons nonetheless. "Thank you, hun," Havoc told Kikuhana as he sat next to Stephen on the empty chair, not noticing that the two women had been the ones who hit him senseless on the head. He put the coffee to his lips and sipped away. "Ahhh, it's nice to have coffee in this time of season. It's pretty cold outside, don't'cha guys think?" he asked with a goofy smile on his face. Stephen just nodded his head.

Stephen flinched when he saw the top-secret papers were still on the table and quickly grabbed them to hide them in his coat. "Geez, Stephen, I was planning on spilling coffee on it, you're so paranoid. Loosen up," Havoc jokingly said. "I'm sorry, I tend to be like that," Stephen lied, tucking in the last paper inside his coat. "So, Havoc, how have you and your girlfriend been doing lately?" Inside Stephen knew Havoc's girlfriend, Solaris. After all, he had been with her last night... along with Envy and Gluttony.

Hatone sat in the chair occasionally sipping her coffee and folding her hands in her lap. She wasn't entirely sure how to address the officer. He seemed friendly and pretty outgoing. Hatone brushed her hair back behind her shoulders every time it would fall in front of her face. She figured that if she hid her face in front of someone from the military that might make them suspicious of her. She reached out to pet the puppy in Kikuhana's lap, scratching him behind the ear. Hatone smiled at the pup.

Havoc would share his experience he had with Solaris yesterday on his date but Stephen seemed to be ignoring him. He would watch Hatone push her hair back from across the table when she hadn't been looking. What beautiful hair color. It's like nothing I've seen before... Stephen would clear his throat as he came back to his senses and began to listen to Havoc. "Seems like you had a good time, Havoc," Stephen commented, taking a sip from his coffee. "Oh, you bet! I'm going to see her Friday night, well, that being tomorrow actually. It should be great."

When Havoc finished drinking his coffee, he excused himself and said his goodbyes to the three as he headed out the door to go back to work. Stephen relaxed in his chair and let out a sigh, being thankful that Havoc hadn't been listening to their private conversation from earlier. "That was definitely unexpected," Stephen added as he laughed.

Kiku sunk in her chair a little, her bangs covered her eyes, and she let out a breath of relief when Havoc left. _That was…so close_ she thought. Kikuhana then sat up right in her chair and looked at Stephen. "So, Havoc has a date tomorrow…are you planning on letting him go?" Kiku questioned as she placed her hand on Hayate's back. "You said most of the military thinks _she_ is involved in all this..."

"Unfortunately, yes. Roy has commanded me to send someone to privately investigate the date in case this Solaris lady decides to get information out of Havoc. I believe Roy wanted me to send one of the other state alchemists... his name is, Edward, I believe?" He responded. "So far I haven't had much luck locating him." Stephen looked down at his wrist's watch to check the time. "Oh, I'm almost late for my shift, I should probably get going. You don't mind if I collect each of your phone numbers, right? I'd like to keep you guys updated on anything the military decides if they take action," he then paused for a moment, "Wait, didn't Roy give you legal permission to work on the case?"

Kiku's eyes winded a bit and her heart skipped. _Edward…he doesn't mean…Edward Elirc, dose he?_ She then slowly snapped out of her thought. "Oh…M- Mustang?" She asked almost dazed. . "I believe he did," Kiku smiled softly as she took a pen out of her pocket. There was a silence as she wrote their numbers on a napkin. Kikuhana then got to her feet, now holding Hayate in one hand. "The first one is mine, then theres Hatone's." She told Stephen as she handed him the napkin. "If you want Hatone and I could walk with you to the Station," she offered. "We were going to head that way anyway," Kiku added, not wanting to part with Hayate yet and hoping to maybe see some old friends.

Hatone sat there wondering if the Edward Stephan mentioned was the Edward she and her sister once knew. Her thoughts were cut off when Kikuhana made the offer to go with Stephan. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, while glancing over at Stephan at the same time. Their eyes made contact for a very short moment. Hatone felt herself blush and quickly looked away.

Stephen was distracted when he saw that Hatone had looked away from him and smiled to himsself. He looked up at Kikuhana who was already standing up and ready to head out. "It's fine, you ladies go on ahead. I forgot I had to buy some latte for the Colonel, anyways. I will be seeing you guys soon," looking at Hatone, when he said his last sentence.

"Oh, alright then" Kiku replied. "But you might want Hayate back," She said handed him the dog. "So, we'll see you around then. Take care Stephen." Kiku smiled. She then stated to head towards the door. "Come on Hatone."

Hatone quickly followed behind her sister; still very distracted by that brief moment of eye-contact with Stephen. "So, um where are we going exactly?" Hatone asked her sister in a bit of a dazed tone.

Kiku shrugged. "Not really sure," she laughed.

And that was how the day went on. People headed back to work at the headquarters, some piled with tremendous amount of work, and some were unlucky to find any leads on who could have wanted the papers that were found during the explosion. Except for Stephen...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It was Friday night, 11:13 P.M. Outside in the city was dark, cloudy, and slightly rainy, but that didn't stop the people who were outside celebrating a festival in the downtown part of the city. Every part of the city was lit up with colorful, red and blue lanterns that hung on lampposts, confetti flew up on the air every now and then, many merchants gathered on the street selling Amestrisian food. Inflatable characters would portray Amestrisian legends as they passed by around the city. It looked very similar to Chinese festivals but bigger and more colorful.

Stephen was already in his apartment, sitting on his cozy single bed beside his bedside table where he had his telephone kept. From the window that was across his bed he could hear people chanting and singing Amestrisian songs. His entire room was quiet and warm as a candle tried to light up the room from dimness. A chimney in the small living room would keep the apartment warm and comfortable. Stephen remained sitting on the bed, contemplating on the case. Now in the military they called the the homunculi conspiracy. The military still suspects that the homunculi are planning a war on Central City. But what for? Oh right, they want to conquer everything and get rid of the humans once and for all after so many years of being in conflict with them. Stephen and many other militias knew this and had obviously done their best to keep it from the public. A reason why people are ignorantly celebrating outside in which Stephen did not wish to take part in after knowing the truth behind the case.

He looked up at the table bedside him and read the numbers on a piece of paper that he was giving to the day before at the coffee shop. He planned to call Hatone.

Kikuhana fixed her black knee-high socks before she placed on her black boots which had buckles on them. She left her bark brown hair the same, and kept her necklace. Kiku wore a red hooded jacket which she had ziped closed; along with a short brown skirt with black shorts underneath. Hatone and her were planning to head off to the festival that was being held downtown; it lasted until 3:00 in the morning. Kiku looked at her sister who was sitting on the bed. Hatone had on a white undershirt with a green jacket over it, only the middle button was buttoned. She also wore a brown skirt with olive green leggings and brown boots. Hatone's orange hair remanded half-way up and she had her cell phone in her hand. "Are you ready?" Kiku asked her sister. Before Hatone answered her cell glowed and vibrated, then it rang.

"Huh?" Hatone glanced down at her phone. An unfamiliar number showed up. She hesitated and waited until it rang for the third time before she answered it and put it to her ear. "Hello?" Hatone asked in a soft, shy voice.

"Meet me in the central mall where the festival is being held outside," a man said over the phone. His voice was cool and clear, like a stream over smooth stones. After he finished his sentence, the man hung up the phone.

Hatone's eyes widened a bit. She expected the person on the other side of the phone to have a wrong number. "Um, Kiku?" Hatone called to her sister after she closed her phone. "It was a man who said to meet him in the central mall where the festival is being held outside." She told her. "Do you think we should go?" Hatone asked a bit nervously.

Kiku was now standing by her sister. "Um...if you want," she paused. "I mean I'll go with you and we can see who it is. It might be someone from the Military." Kiku added, she wasn't uneasy about the situation like Hatone was. In fact, she was calm.

Outside of the mall were people throwing confetti into the air as people entered and left the mall. Merchants stood by the entrance of the mall with their small traveling shops and food stands, ready to sell to their customers. As the man headed towards the entrance of the mall, the confetti-throwing people hesitated to pour confetti onto him; they were intimated by him. He wore a full, fitting, metal suit and wore on his head what seemed to look like a black motorcycle helmet.

Most of the confetti-throwing people looked down to the ground as he passed by; they didn't want to make any sort of eye contact with him. The man looked around the mall and watched the people pleasantly shop for Christmas. "Hm," was all he said and disappeared in an instant when no one was watching.

The two sisters stood waiting where the man said to meet. Hatone nervously fidgeted in place, while Kikuhana seemed to be perfectly calm. Kiku assured Hatone that if anything went wrong there were plenty of people around and they knew alchemy. Hatone pulled the sleeves of her jacket over her hands and waited.

The mysterious man saw in the distance from the second floor the two women on the first floor of the mall, looking around in an almost confused manner. He grinned to himself underneath the black, veiling motorcycle helmet.

Kiku sighed "We have no idea who we're looking for...maybe this was a mistake" Kiku told her sister.

The lights in the mall began to flicker. It would go pitch dark and then light again. The people who were previously chattering happily amongst the crowd suddenly got quiet and worried of what was going on. "What's going on? What's going on?" everyone was saying. Wondered of what was going on. Hatone started to grow even more uneasy. "Kiku..." Hatone moved closer to her sister, holding her hand.

The lights from the ceiling burst out as the light bulbs cracked and broke. The people began to scream and mothers began calling out for the children, worried they might get lost. The entire mall now grew entirely pitch black and the only thing that could be seen were the colorful titles of the stores and the decorated Christmas tree. All that could be heard was the people next to you shouting and screaming, running for help.

In the darkness of the mall, the man stood on top of the rail off the second floor and dove into the air, where he could see crystal clear in night vision, Hatone standing next to her sister, scared and trying to move away from the people who shoved them. The man appeared behind Hatone and grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth before she made any noise.

Hatone's eyes shot wide open. She kicked and squirmed as she tried plying the strong hand off her mouth. She was in a full panic and tried to scream, however because everyone was making so much noise it was useless.

"Please," the man's cool voice whispered into her ear, "You don't want to make things worse." The motorcycle-like helmet made it difficult to distinguish whose voice it was behind the disguise but the man knocked her out at just the pinch on the neck. He swiftly carried her in his arms into the darkness and disappeared.

The lights remarkably went back on at the snap of his fingers as he left. The mall was entirely destructed...

Kikuhana's eyes winded with fear, her sister wasn't with her...and the mall that they were in was now, no more. "HATONE!" Kiku cried and tried to get to the rubble. But someone's voice stopped her. "Hang on," The voice belonged to Havoc. He was here with his girlfriend.

Havoc who had his arm locked around Solaris , excused himself from her and ran over to fellow, military member, Kikuhana. "Miss! Miss!" he called out, "Are you okay? What happened?" Havoc tried to hold her into his arms to comfort her. Besides not being well with women, he tried to do his best.

"Hatone..." Kiku started crying. Kiku tried to push him away but didn't try that hard. She wanted to be comforted, but at the same time she wanted to find her sister. "Hatone, my sister..." Kiku started to hold back her tears, for she hated to cry in front of people. But it was hard; the tears escaped her eyes as she clutched his shirt and started to cry.

Havoc got sidetracked when many worried people came up to him, noticing that he was part of the military. They bombarded him with questions and complaints and it was difficult for him to pay more attention to Kikuhana who needed the comfort. He's a guy that can't say no to anyone...


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The man who was at his apartment had removed his entire disguise from the mall, especially the helmet. The girl he had knocked out earlier, Hatone, lay on his bed asleep with a wet towel over her head. He had placed an alchemic spell on her that didn't allow her to escape. He headed into the kitchen to prepare some food as he patiently waited for her to wake up.

Hatone groaned a bit as she started to awake. She felt something cold and wet on her forehead. She slowly started to sit up, and a wet rag fell to her lap. "Huh?" She stared at it, but then felt a small sore spot on her neck. "Ow," Hatone muttered. She stopped to have a look at her surroundings and remembered everything that happened.

The man who had kidnapped her, turned around as he cooked on the stove. "Oh, you're awake," he said, as he flipped an omelet. He put the omelet on a plate and took it over to Hatone and sat on the chair that was next to the bed. It had been Stephen behind the veiled helmet. He handed her the plate along with a cup of cool water for her to calm down. Hatone froze stiff at the voice. Seeing Stephen gave her mixed emotions. She was relived to see a familiar face; however she was still nervous around him. She took the plate and set it in her lap. "What... what happened?" Hatone asked, as she was finally able to keep eye-contact with man.

"Oh, you don't remember?" He stroked his chin in contemplation. "Well, do you at least remember what happened at the mall earlier this night?" He scooted his chair closer to her to get a better look if she was doing all right like a doctor would to a patient. He had medical experience back when he was in Xing.

"Yeah, I remember what happened at the mall," Hatone answered. Her face became a bit pink from him scooting closer to her. "B-but I mean who caused it?"

He hesitated for a moment but looked up from his lap. "I did. I did, Hatone," he said cryptically, "But there is a good reason why I didn't bring your sister along too but you're going to have to be very understanding about the situation... okay?"

Hatone gripped the bed sheets tightly and scooted back. "Explain," she tried to make herself sound strong. However she couldn't hide the fear she held in her voice.

"Hatone... I... I'm a homunculus." Hatone's eyes shot wide open as she ran off the bed and tried running for the door.

Stephen sighed and almost laughed to himself. "I was prepared for the reaction," he said to himself. He stood up from the chair and solemnly walked to the door as she tried to open it. He slipped into her arms and looked down at her. He was a very tall man and he blocked the door from her as he leaned his back on it, making sure the door was locked as his left hand skimmed the doorknob, not removing his gaze from her.

"Please, sit down."

Hatone couldn't help but blush a bit at how close he was. She stepped away from him. "Why are you doing this? Why did you take me? Where's my sister? I want my sister!" her eyes started to swell up with tears each time she spoke.

He wrapped one arm around her as he slowly took her to the bed to sit her down. "Your sister is fine, nothing happened to her. The last time I saw her at the mall, Havoc was already taking her into his apartment to keep her safe from whatever they think it was that caused the ruckus at the mall. They don't know it was me but you're going to have to understand that this was all for a good reason which I will get to in a moment," he reassured as he sat himself down on the chair.

"You remember the papers I showed you and your sister at the coffee shop the other day right? The blood-stained transmutation circles?"

Hatone remained sitting at the far edge of the bed, pressing her back against the wall. "Yes..." She answered.

"The homunculi... my people... my species... they have something planned for the city of Amestris, that being Central City. Something very life-threatening. The only ones who know are most of the military but they don't know I'm a homunculus. You can't tell anyone."

"Hatone," he continued, "When I first met you-scratch that-when I first saw you, I sensed the innocence of your blood compared to your sisters. That blood, _your _blood, is why I decided to kidnap you instead of her; I knew I could trust you with this. Hatone... the other homunculi want to create all humans in Amestris, especially Central City, into slave-bounded chimeras."

A spike a fear pulsed through Hatone. Thousands of questions ran through her mind. She couldn't seem to pin-point one question. She started to wonder if this was all a dream. She dropped her gaze, still searching for something to say.

"Hatone," he continued after he saw her reaction, "I will protect you with all my might if I have to. I'm not like the other homunculi, you have to believe me. Will you make this promise to stay with me until all danger has been cleared? I can't spare your life being taken away by them." Hatone glanced back up at Stephen. "How?" She asked. "How do I know I can trust you for sure?"

He decided it was all right to climb onto the bed to sit next to her to comfort her. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so instead of taking you captive. And one other thing, I'm not with the homunculi right now, am I?" he said, nudging her on the shoulder.

Hatone had to admit what he was telling her was in fact true. "What about my sister? Can't I tell her about this?" Hatone asked. She never kept anything hidden from Kiku. Having to keep something like this a secret would be nearly imposable for her.

"I'm afraid not, Hatone. Though I would hate to pick sides over who I prefer trusting... I only trust you. I haven't told anyone this back at headquarters. I hope you trust me now that I've cleared things."

Hatone wrapped her hand around her arm and glanced away. _Why does he trust me?_ She wondered. "Alright, I trust you," She told him.

Stephen still remained seated next to her and wondered if he should say something or leave her alone. "Hatone, would you like something else besides the omelet?"

"Umm," Hatone wondered for a bit. She was still a bit too nervous to want to eat, however she was growing hungry. "Do you have any ramen...?" She asked a bit shyly.

Stephen smiled at her and nodded his head kindly. "Why, yes, I do. I'll go make that for you right now," he responded as he politely excused himself from the bed and walked into the kitchen. Hatone sighed with a pink face and fell back on the bed. This is insane, she thought as she fixed her gaze on the ceiling. Stephen would quickly heat up the ramen noodles in the pan at the snap of his fingers. He sniffed it to see if it had been readily and well-made. He poured the noodles and soup into a bowl and threw in a fork for her. He grabbed a paper towel before he left to the bed.

"Compliments of the homunculus," he said, carefully handing it to her from the edge of the bed. Hatone carefully reached out and took the bowl.

"Thank you," she said in a small voice. She inhaled the wonderful aroma before she started eating. Stephen was unsure to sit on the chair next to the bed or do something else; he would have hated to make her uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry Hatone, but can you excuse me for awhile?" Where are you going?" She asked a bit too quickly, feeling panic starting to well up again. She then started to feel embarrassed at how fast she questioned him. "Erm... I mean that's fine."

He chuckled a bit. It's been awhile someone has asked him where he was going off too; he liked the feeling. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just going off to take a shower," he bowed to her to excuse himself and grabbed a towel from his drawers and headed into the bathroom from across the hall. Hatone blushed more and felt the embarrassment spread like wildfire. She kept her head low and ate her ramen. As Stephen walked into the bathroom, he undressed himself and locked the door behind him before he did. He turned the knobs on the shower, opening the hot water, and got in. As he washed his hair with shampoo, he looked down at the palm of his hands with deep thought. On the palm of his hands were two, blood-inked tattoos that allowed him to perform alchemy and that was also a scarring reminder of his species. He gripped his hands in frustration and continued to wash his hair. Hatone finished her ramen and got up to put it away. She could still hear the running water from the bathroom and set the empty bowl in he sink. During his shower, he began to reminisce about a lot of things from his past. From the time the homunculi and he met the merchant, when he first met his Creator, when he joined the military... when he kidnapped Hatone... He opened his eyes from deep thought as the water fell on his head and looked up at the shower head. Why did Father choose me as the co-leader of the Plan? Why... Hatone had her hands behind her back as she took a mini-tour around the apartment. Everything was very neat and clean. She noticed a bookcase filled with books. Hatone walked over to it and ran her hand across a row of books. The large shelf of books had many novels on the subject of philosophy, alchemy, anthropology (human life), and the history of the world. Stephen seemed to be keen with the intelligence of the world and always hid himself in his apartment to learn about things he never knew when he was made into a homunculus. In other part of the shelf was a medium-sized, ancient-looking treasure box that seems to have been without its lock.

Hatone's eyes were quickly drawn to the treasure box. She looked over her shoulder at the bathroom door before she got closer to it. "I wonder what this is..." Hatone said quietly to herself and she placed a hand on it. The box's lid quickly sprang up open by her touch and inside was a small collection of photos. Hatone jumped back at the unexpected reaction to the touch. She saw the photos and naturally went to pick them up. Should I...? She was torn if she should view the photographs or not. There was probably a reason why he kept them in an old box, hidden from everything else. Shockingly, the beginning bit of the photos consisted of him being a part of the World War I between Amestris, Ishbal, and Xing. In the photo, he had the same length of hair, pitch black, gray-looking eyes, holding his rifle along with his fellow soldiers. The photo read "WWI, 11/10/1542". Hatone decided that she would take a quick peak. She picked the photos up and the first one took her by a bit of surprise. "World War I?" She whispered. The next photo was him being severely wounded while being taken care of by his favorite soldier, Abel, during trench warfare. A couple of photos after that were him attending a ball with one of the Amestrisian royal princesses after the war. The photo read "15th Amestrisian Ball - Stephen Compton and Magdalene Trelawney. "

In the photo, Stephen was in a cast but in a well-tailored suit that suited him well, locking his other arm with the princess at the entrance of the royal ball. Hatone was amazed and fascinated by the photos she was looking at. "Just how long has he been alive?" Hatone wondered aloud. She heard the shower water shut off and quickly put the photos back in the box and ran back to the bedroom. She sat on the bed with her legs crossed; acting as if she had been there the whole time. As Stephen unlocked the door, he walked out of the bathroom and into the hallway heading into his bedroom, with only a towel wrapped around the lower part of his body and the rest, clothes less, as he dried his upper body with another small towel and flipped his hair to dry out his hair. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Hatone still sitting there. Hatone's eyes went wide as she felt the blood rush to her face. She dropped her head and brushed her hair in front of her face while nervously fiddling with her hands. "I-I'm sorry... do y-you want me to leave?"

Stephen stumbled back on a few chairs that were behind him from shock that she hadn't slept yet. "H-Hatone! I-I'm so sorry... I apologize, I had completely forgotten... I mean... I thought you were asleep!" Hatone's face color was similar to an apple by that time.

"No, no, no, I'm sorry i-it was my fault!" She stuttered as she buried her face deep into the pillow. Stephen's lower towel was about to fall off as he stumbled and grunted to try to get it to be much tighter around his waist and quickly rushed into the bathroom. Hatone let out a small yelp as she fell off the bed and crouched down, almost crawling under the bed. A couple of minutes later, Stephen walked out of the bathroom with a blue robe on him and looked around for Hatone, worried that she had already left.

"Hatone..." he said in a low, concerned voice and sat onto the bed heavily until he heard a small yelp. "Hm?" he thought and got up, sat heavily back down on the bed and heard another smaller yelp and a bump underneath and got up and kneeled down on the floor, lifting up the covers and saw Hatone hiding underneath the bed. With amazement he said, "Hatone?" Hatone's face was probably glowing red from under the bed.

"I'm... really... sorry..." She had to break up the words to avoid from stuttering so badly. He carefully grabbed her arms and pulled her from underneath the bed.

"Did I look _that_ bad when I came out? You really caught me by surprise."

"No- no you didn't look bad, it was just the opp-" She froze before she could finished what she was about to say. "I-I mean I didn't know you'd be- I'm sorry," Hatone apologized again; avoiding eye-contact again. He carefully sat her back down and sat next to her. He stared at her as he looked down at her lap in embarrassment. He cleared his throat and carefully lifted his hand to her ear to put behind her silky hair behind it. Hatone wasn't expecting Stephen to touch her. Her face and ears throbbed and her heart was pumping so fast that she thought a hummingbird was trapped in her chest. He lowered his cool hand from her cheek to her chin and carefully grabbed it to face her to him, his ouroboros tattoo clearly visible. As he did, he warmly smiled to her. Hatone's deep brown eyes locked with his ruby red ones. She felt her throat tighten way up and she could only image how red her face must've been. Three words kept repeating in her head, I'm gonna faint, Stephen did not remove his cold hand from her chin because he liked the way it warmed his hand all the way through his body from the inside. As he began lean slowly towards her, his blood-red eyes became more much elegant and beautiful each time he got a bit closer. Hatone's eyes started to get a bit bigger. _W-wait- what is he doing? _She couldn't speak or move. Her knees and hands began to tremble.

Stephen could clearly see her tremble as he got close and began to slowly close his eyes as his face got nearer to hers. "Haton-" Something large went crashing through the window from his bedroom and he quickly reacted, swiftly pulling her into his arms as they both rolled together on the floor, dodging the mailbox that was thrown through the window. He covered her with his back as pieces of glass fell on them and all over the room. Hatone was still very stiff from what she thought was going to happen. Her eyes were still very wide and face very pink. _WHAT JUST HAPPENED! _She screamed in her head, but couldn't force the words out of her mouth. A loud laugh from outside could be heard through the damaged window and wall. He lifted us his head from Hatone's shoulder and rolled off of her to check if she was hurt. "Hatone, are you all right? Can you hear me?"

"Y-yeah," Hatone choked out. She was able to move her arms and legs again and started sitting up. "What was that? W-what happened?" She asked Stephen, her voice a bit shaky.

"I have no idea," he honestly said as he kneeled up from the floor, crouching over to the broken window, to view who was outside, "its best if you stay in the bathroom. Can you do that for me, Hatone? I'm going to check things out."

Hatone nodded. "Ok," she said as she got to her feet. She went into the bathroom and locked it. Just to be sure, she sat down against the door. Stephen, with no shame, walked out of his apartment in his robe and slippers and casually walked down the street. He would walk down the sidewalk, shifting his eyes every now and then to see who was around this late at night. "It couldn't be Kikuhana..." He suddenly heard a familiar laugh and quickly turned around, only to find Envy just an inch behind him

. "You haven't changed much have you, Stephen? Always looking casual as always." Stephen grimaced. "What the hell were you thinking of when you threw that mailbox?" Envy laughed out loud, holding his stomach. "Just wanted to surprise you. We used to do that sort of stuff to each other. We're brothers by species aren't we? We should understand one another's actions." Envy walked with Stephen back into the apartment and Stephen stopped at the door, turning around to Envy. "Well, I'm glad that you decided to check up on me but understand that I have changed and I don't do those things anymore. Let's call it a night,"

Envy stroked his chin, looking at Stephen suspiciously. "My, my, ever since you joined the military, it seems you've gotten all your stuff together, haven't you? Should I be proud?" "Go home, Envy." Envy put his hands up. "Fine, fine, whatever. Father wants to know how you've been so I decided to check up on you. Well, good night." And with that, Envy left the apartment complex.

Stephen entered his apartment with relief, throwing his keys on his kitchen table and threw himself on the bed in frustration. Hatone heard someone enter. She pressed her ear against the door and heard the jingle of keys. She opened the door a crack and tried looking around to see if she could spot Stephen. Stephen had heard Hatone come out of the bathroom but was too bothered to get up from the bed. He was really upset at what Envy had done and how he couldn't escape from the homunculi and Father each time he went somewhere; it was very meddlesome of them. He heavily sighed.

Hatone opened the door wider when she saw it was indeed Stephen. He appeared to be frustrated and she wondered if she should continue to hide in the bathroom or if she should go over there. "Um, are you ok?" She asked in a soft voice as she stood under the door frame. Stephen sat up from the bed, pushing back his thin, white hair. "I'm... doing fine now. I'm just relieved to see that you are safe," he said as he signaled her to come over to sit on the chair in front of him. Hatone carefully walked into the room and sat on the chair. "Did you find out who it was?" She asked with curious eyes. He regretfully nodded his head. "It was one the other... homunculi. You might know him, his name's Envy," he paused for a moment, as he let out another sigh, "He wanted to know how I was doing." He shook his head at the manner in which Envy had greeted him with that mailbox.

"Envy..." She whispered breathlessly. The last time she and Kikuhana had seen Envy was when they were separated from the Elric brothers. "He wanted to check up on you by throwing a mailbox through your window?" Hatone asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It's something you wouldn't understand but before I was my amateur self, when I was on my first days of being a homunculus, we were very reckless around each other like how close brothers would." It was a silent for a few moments. "Hatone?"

Hatone sat up straight when she heard her name being called. "Yes?"

"Do you..." He sighed before he could finish his sentence, but with hesitation, he continued, "Do you still want to live with me after all of this night's events?" Hatone blushed a bit at his question. "Live with you?" She blinked. Stephen slightly nodded. "I mean, temporarily, that is."

Hatone thought over what he said. Unless she was with her sister Kikuhana again, she didn't want to be anywhere without Stephen; seeing that he was the only other person she trusted. "Well, yeah, I wouldn't want to be separated." Hatone told him. "But for how long?" Stephen had felt and seen through her exact thoughts; she wasn't as enthusiastic about him living with her. For a moment, his mind went on about the thought and felt a bit morose and nodded at her answer. "I suppose for just a month," he said in a very serious tone as he stood up to head to the kitchen. Hatone started to wonder if her response upset him. "Well, yeah, I'd be happy to li-" she chose not to finish her sentence and bit her lip. He decided to get a cup of water and drink some of it. Slightly slamming it on the counter and headed back into the bedroom and sat down on the bed. "I'll sleep on the floor and you can sleep on here. Are you fine with that?"

"I wouldn't want to kick you out of your own bed," Hatone told Stephen with some guilt. "I can sleep on the couch, I don't mind." She added as she glanced around the room.

Before Hatone could answer, the bed was already set up for her to sleep on. "Oh, well, I already prepared the bed for you. Please, I don't mind," he said as he lay on the floor with just a pillow and a blanket.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The morning sun's rays shined through the broken window and lit up the apartment. Stephen stretched on the floor and sat up, only finding himself with his hand over his shoulder as he grunted at his pulled muscle. He turned his head over at Hatone who was still asleep on his bed.

_I better not wake her up_.

He moved closer to the edge of the bed, kneeling down, looking over Hatone.

_It's a shame she doesn't want to stay here longer. Well, it's best to make it the best month for her before she leaves. I have to keep her clear from the other homunculi... especially Father. Kikuhana must be very worried but I can't let her know of the truth just yet, she needs to be separated from her for awhile._

A beam of sunlight hit Hatone right in the face, causing her to wake up. She looked at the clock as she rubbed her left eye. "It's 8," Hatone muttered with sleepiness. She dreaded waking up early, and preferred to sleep in to around 10 in the morning. However, she didn't want to seem like a bad house guest and chose to force herself out of bed. I wonder where Stephen is, Hatone thought as she got to her feet. Stephen opened his apartment door and walked into the room with a grocery bag full of medication and foods. He placed them on top of the kitchen table and headed to his other phone that was hanging on the wall. He picked up the receiver and dialed the military headquarters,

"Yes, may I speak with the Colonel? It's Lieutenant Compton," he said into the phone. He could hear the lady dialing the Colonel's number and cleared his throat, ready to speak to him.

"Colonel Mustang speaking."

"Colonel, its Stephen."

"Stephen, where have you been? We were worried about you. We thought you might have gotten sick this morning."

"I called to let you know that I will be missing a few weeks of work."

Roy was silent; he was thinking about Stephen's sudden decision. "Oh?"

"There are some things I have to take care of in Xing with the military. That's where I was last night," he convincingly lied.

"How long do you plan to be away?"

"About a month, sir. I have some leads," he lied once again.

"Excellent. We'll be seeing you within the next month then. Good day," Roy responded and hung up.

Stephen was surprised at Roy's easy acceptance and looked at his phone in a bit of surprise. He shrugged and hung up the phone. Hatone over heard some of the conversation, but not all of it_. He was talking to Roy, I wonder if Kiku's with him_. Hatone placed her hand on the door knob and turned it, peaking through the small opening. She didn't want to just barge through the door and shuffle through the bags, so she stood in the bedroom on the bed. A thought crossed Hatone's mind. She started thinking of the two embarrassing things that happened yesterday and blushed a little. He probably forgot all about it. I'll only make it awkward if I act weird around him.

Stephen had decided to check up on Hatone. He walked to the bedroom and stood in front of the closed door, lightly knocking it. "Hatone?" he whispered through the other side of the door. A small yelp escaped her mouth, not expecting to hear his voice. Hatone then started running her fingers through her orange locks of hair, seeing that she hadn't brushed her hair yet. "Come in," she said.

Stephen carefully opened the door and walked through the doorway. "How did you sleep last night?" he asked as he pulled a chair from his desk from the corner and sat down on it, facing Hatone.

"Oh slept very well, thank you." She answered with a bit of a nervous smile. The truth was she it took her about 2 hours before she even began to feel tired. She kept thinking about her sister. "What about you?" Hatone asked, still feeling guilty that he slept on the floor.

"I slept well, thank you. Got a bit of a pulled muscle but I'm used to that. I'm glad you slept well though. Also, I decided to give Roy a call to left him know that I'd be taking some time off of work, I don't know if you heard me. I'm taking the month off. We have some plans for us tonight, Hatone, and it deals with Havoc and... his new girlfriend. Do you think you're up for it? I could go alone."

"Oh, I wouldn't mind going." Hatone smile a bit, glad that he would offer. She remembered how friendly Havoc acted towards her and Kikuhana last time they met. "What time should we leave?" She asked.

Stephen was content inside that Hatone accepted his proposition. "Well, Havoc took the day off to spend more time with his girlfriend, Solaris... I don't know why I get the feeling that he'll be with her later in the morning though. I say we got ready right now. With what you're wearing is fine. Even though we don't what we might be up against, I have some poisonous needles for you to take in case of emergencies," he stood up from the chair and walked over to her, taking out a medium box from his robe's pocket and handed them to her. "People will think you're holding a cigarette box instead of a weapon. Inside the box are the needles and they're ready to go. Aim for the pressure points if something happens." Hatone blinked in surprise.

"But, we're just going to meet Havoc and his girlfriend, aren't we?" She asked. She expected that it would be a peaceful little meeting, and for nothing bad to happen. Then again, Envy did randomly throw a mailbox through Stephen's window yesterday. Things could take an unexpected turn of events, and Hatone had always been slightly paranoid.

Stephen could already see was getting nervous. He leaned down on her, since he was so tall, and placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her, "At ease, Hatone, at ease. I'm going to be by your side the whole time and I'm not going to let anything happen to you on my watch," he said and he finally let go of her and walked towards his drawer and gathered some of his clothes.

Shortly after coming out from the bathroom, he wore an elegant tuxedo that he wore to the most recent Amestrisian ball. "We are going to play different roles. I know I didn't mention this but, uh, we're going on a double date with Havoc."

A DATE! The surprised tone in Hatone's head was clearly visible on her face. "O-oh..." She blushed and wondered how exactly she was supposed to act when they got there. Hatone had never been on a date before. She stopped and noticed at how handsome Stephen looked. Hatone looked down at her outfit and started to feel like she was underdressed. Stephen laughed to himself at her predictability and said,

"Don't worry, I kind of bought you something for today. Here." From behind his back, he pulled out a large box with contained her dress that she would be wearing. "I hope it's your size."

"Oh," Hatone took the box as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you, very much." She said as she started to smile a bit. It amazed her how Stephen always seemed to be one step ahead. She put the dress on, and it was a perfect fit. The dress was a knee-length purple dress. She decided that she would leave her boots on. Hatone could never walk well in heels. She pulled her hair up with the hair band she had into a slick looking updo and took one last check in the mirror before she opened the door.

Stephen waited outside of the bedroom door, waiting for Hatone to be ready. He pulled his tuxedo's sleeve to check the time on his wrist watch: 11:13 A.M. Havoc would be going to lunch out with Solaris soon and Stephen knew exactly where. He felt his tuxedo's coat, making sure he had some extra weapons in case of any danger.

Hatone picked up the box of poison needles off the dresser. She glanced up at Stephen from the corner of her eye. _He looks so nice_, she thought. "So," Hatone cleared her throat a bit. "Are we ready?" She asked.

When he heard her, he turned around and his eyes uncontrollably widened. "You look... beautiful," he selflessly said. A minute after regaining some sense, he cleared his throat. "Excuse me. Uh, yes, I'm ready to go," he said and held out his arm from her to hold onto, "Shall we?"

Hatone smiled and blushed. "Thank you," His response flattered her. She hugged his arm and rested her head against his shoulder without even thinking. He got stiff when she rested her head on his shoulder but exhaled and locked her arm around hers, heading out of the apartment.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"There he is," Stephen said as he walked by the downtown streets, pointing at Havoc who was across the street at the fine French restaurant inside; you could see everything inside the place from the window from the outside. Havoc was sitting at a round table with his partner Solaris whom were laughing at something as they drank glasses of wine. "I hope he didn't drink to many," Stephen said jokingly as he and Hatone walked across the busy street. They were greeted by a French waiter when they entered and guided them to Havoc's table. "Stephen! Good to you see you man, you two are looking wonderful. Please, have a seat!" Havoc welcomed as he stood up from his chair. Solaris didn't seem to say anything but had a very seductive smile. She was staring at Stephen for awhile though, fairly surprised to see him with a girl. Stephen pulled out the chair that was beside his for Hatone.

Hatone thanked Stephen as she took a seat. She greeted Havoc and fixed her eyes on the woman. She was a very beautiful person: long, black, wavy hair and a pretty face. Havoc seemed like a goof-ball, which made Hatone wonder how someone like her would go for him. "It's very nice to meet you," Hatone gave Solaris a warm smile as she extended her arm towards her. Hatone always felt much calmer around females; it was boys that made her nervous. However, there was something about Solaris that Hatone wasn't sure of.

Solaris took her locked gaze off of Stephen and faced her attention to Hatone. Giving her a look before taking her hand and smiling back. "It's nice to meet you as well," She answered as Havoc and Stephen talked away. Well Havoc was the one doing most of the talking. Maria folded her arms and rested them on the table. She took one last look at Hatone before she focused her lavender eyes on Stephen, it was almost has if she was trying to read him. _So, what's with this girl?_ Solaris thought, smiling seductively as she did when the two came in.

"And you know what the best part was?" Havoc babbled on as he tried to push back the laughter, "He tried to rob my gun!" He began lightly pounding on the table, laughing very loudly. Stephen just chuckled a bit. "Those were great times, man. Oh," Havoc added as he calmed down and remembered he hadn't introduced his girlfriend, "I'm so sorry for not introducing you guys to my girlfriend, this is Solaris," he introduced as he wrapped his arm around her. "Nice to meet you," said Stephen coldly. Stephen looked from the corner of his eye at Hatone and noticed she was in a good mood. _It seems she doesn't know what she is yet, _Stephen thought referring to Hatone's observation of Solaris.

Solaris rested her head on Havoc's shoulder since he still had his arm wrapped around her. "So, Stephen" a small smile appeared across her face. "Is this your girlfriend?" Solaris's tone of voice stayed the same as before.

Stephen gripped his hand from underneath the table at Lust's / Solaris 's question. "Oh, Noriko, is actually just a very close friend. I reunited with her just yesterday after several years from not hearing from her," he responded, smilingly cunningly as he rested his hand on Hatone's knee from underneath the table as a secret way of saying, "Trust me on this." He whispered. Stephen knew that Havoc was too blunt to figure out that Hatone's name really wasn't Noriko but it would be worth a shot. The table was silent.

Hatone blushed at Solaris question. She figured at some point or another one of the two would ask. "So, um," Hatone scratched the back of her head as she tried to think of a question. "How long have the two of you known each other?" Hatone asked with a smile; trying to clear the awkwardness from the table.

Havoc looked down at his lap with a flattered smile and looked to Solaris and said, "Oh, sweetheart, why don't you do the honors of telling them, go on."

Solaris sighed a little, almost out of annoyance from his little game, before she sat up and Havoc took her hand. "Well we have been seeing each other for almost two months," She answered, sounding like she really did care. "I first meet him when I was trying to buy" Solaris paused as if she was trying to remember what she told him. "A bracelet, it was for my niece but I had left my wallet at my place and this was the only one they had left. Havoc being the man that he is, bought it for me." She glanced at him and then to Noriko and Stephen. "We saw each other again at the coffee shop and he asked me out." Lust/ Solaris's story was so convincing and she played the role as Havoc's girlfriend so well, it was hard to tell that everything that Solaris was saying had been a lie from day one.

Stephen was trying to hold back his inner frustration that Lust would do such a thing to use Havoc's feelings. He knew damn well that Lust had no interest in such human for she despised every single one of them despite what excuse a human had; she had her Father's resentment. "What a lovely beginning for two humans," he provokingly said to Lust from across the table as a way of getting back at her for doing such thing. She was beginning to become as irritating as Envy... in fact, all of the homunculi seemed to get on his nerves now.

Hatone could hear that Stephen was trying to get some point across to Solaris. She was starting to wonder if this whole "double date" was getting on his nerves. _I just really hope this goes by smoothly,_ Hatone thought with a small sigh as she sipped on her tea.

Solaris's expression hardened under the long, wavy, black hair that now covered her face. Lust was now slowly losing her patience with Stephen. Solaris stood up from the table as if nothing was wrong. "Would you all please excuse me for a moment?" Her voice stayed soft and fluent even though on the inside she was irritated with her homunculi partner. Solaris headed outside and went through her bag to retrieve her phone, to make it appear as if she was planning on making a call.

Stephen's eyes would follow Solaris as he stood up from the table and left. He grabbed his napkin and lightly wiped his mouth, "Will you please excuse me? I'm going to get some fresh air." Havoc nodded and continued eating the food that was on his plate. Stephen stood up from the chair and went outside as well to join Solaris "Had enough?" he taunted once more when he stood behind her outside in the cold.

"You've seem to have forgotten that humans are such sad and weak, foolish creatures." Lust answered back, smiling her normal seductive smile. A small, calm gust of wind carried the light, crisp air though the night sky. Lust turned around so she was now facing Stephen and she took a step forward. "Who is _she_? Why did you bring her?" There was a very slight tone of resentment that carried on Lust's words.

Stephen placed his hands into his tuxedo's pockets as it began to get colder. He looked up to the cloudy sky and said, "I told you, that's Noriko. A friend of mine. She wanted to join me on the double date. Your boyfriend asked for one, did he not?" Stephen pulled out one hand and moved Lust to the other wall so they wouldn't be seen from the large window at the restaurant. "Why are you with Havoc? Don't you hate humans?"

Lust just stood there for a moment before she responded. "I can't stand them," She almost growled at the fact that she use to be one. "The only reason I'm with this fool is because he'll give me the information we need." Lust said crossing her arms and leaning her back against the wall.

"That's like of you to do something like that," he commented, "What have you found out so far?" Inside, Stephen already chose the side he wanted to be on: with the humans and of course, Hatone. He had to be like his old homunculus self to convince the other homunculi and especially Father that he was supportive of their "plan".

"At this moment nothing, I'm starting to wonder if they tell him anything" She sighed, "I'll give it one more month, and if I have no information then I guess it's time for us to 'break up'" Lust lifted her hand up and admired her razor-like fingers. Lust then placed one of her fingers under Stephen's chin to make sure she had his attention. "I just hope Noriko isn't changing who you are." Lust had seen Stephen was acting different the day they meet the merchant; how he hesitated when Envy told him to kill him.

Stephen forcefully looked up and sternly stared at Lust and shook his head. "She isn't. As I said, she's only a mutual friend, nothing else." He lightly removed her bladed finger with his hand and sighed. "I'm sorry your little research isn't coming along all that well... I'll keep you updated," he lied. "However," he continued, "Don't kill Havoc if you don't find out about anything. Capiche?"

Lust just smiled at Stephen, not saying anything else to his comment. She walked around the corner and headed back into restaurant before the other two got the idea to go look for them. Just minutes after Lust had returned back to the restaurant, Stephen came back in as well sitting on the seat. "I'm sorry for my absence, but it seems the military wants me now. Noriko and I will be leaving now... Noriko?" he said as he got up from his chair, leaving his money on the table for the bill.

Hatone was relived when Stephen came back. Even though Havoc mostly talked the whole time they were gone, she still felt uneasy being alone with someone she barley knew. She stood up next to Stephen. "It was nice to see you Havoc and it was lovely meeting you, Solaris." Hatone told them with a friendly smile.

Solaris just smirked as she looked at Noriko and then at Stephen. "You two take care now."


End file.
